Hasta La Gadget!

RIM has already been feeling the sting of lost customers. That sting isn’t getting any gentler, as Qantas just outlined plans to replace all 1,300 BlackBerry phones in the fleet with iPhones. As the airline explains to The Australian, a mix of cost overhead and employee feedback is steering the decision to wing it Apple’s way. We also imagine Qantas may be facing the usual airline dilemma of having to replace large swaths of equipment after clinging to old technology for dear life. Naturally, the company is keen to reassure passengers that the security is up to snuff as well, and a Bring Your Own Device effort could see Android fly once it’s approved. The time scale is indefinite enough that it’s unlikely that we’ll see the airline crew members distracted by a game of Amazing Alex on that next flight to Melbourne — we only know that they’ll be weaning themselves off of BlackBerry Messenger before too long.

Filed under: Cellphones

Qantas replacing staff BlackBerrys with iPhones, Australian flights may be held up by Tiny Wings originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If there was doubt as to whether or not Android would soon become the majority smartphone platform in the US, that’s just been erased by Nielsen. Google crossed the tipping point in the second quarter after getting close in the winter, with 51.8 percent of current smartphone users running some variant on the green robot’s OS. As we’ve seen in the past, though, the increase is coming mostly at the expenses of platforms already being squeezed to within an inch of their lives, such as the BlackBerry (8.1 percent) and Windows (4.3 percent combined). Apple still isn’t in a position to fret: it kept climbing to 34.3 percent and swung the attention of recent buyers just slightly back in its direction. The real question for many of us might center on what happens in a summer where Samsung has thrown a Galaxy S III-sized curveball at Americans and any new iPhone is likely still a few months away.

Filed under: Cellphones

Nielsen has Android near 52 percent of US smartphone share in Q2, iPhone ekes out gains originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During today’s shareholder meeting RIM CEO Thorsten Heins hinted that BBM, the companies celebrated group messaging service, might be getting some significant upgrades with the debut of BB10. In particular, the words “video chat” were tossed out as an example of how it planned to keep pace with the evolving mobile landscape. In response to a shareholder question, Heins said:

“BBM is a very, strong platform… With upgrading it into a new experience, think about adding features on BB10 such as video chat, for example, within BBM. There’s many other features to come with BB10 that will really level this BBM experience… which will upgrade that experience to a whole new social networking experience based on BBM… we want to use this to build a BlackBerry-driven social networking platform.”

So, does that mean BlackBerry is getting ready to take on Skype and Google? Perhaps. It would certainly make sense, but we’d stop short calling it a sure shot. What is clear, is that Heins really wants to push BlackBerry as the “social” platform focused on “experience” and seems content to let those other mobile OSes win the apps race.

Filed under: Software

RIM CEO hints at future BBM video chat feature originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s anticipated to be a testy shareholder meeting for Research in Motion kicked things off in a fairly status quo matter, with 10 directors being confirmed as part of the struggling smartphone maker’s board. That list includes CEO Thorsten Heins and founder Mike Lazaridis. The elections, one attendee noted, were “not an overwhelming approval,” with 14.8 percent and 19.1 percent of votes withheld for Heins and Lazaridis, respectively.

Thorsten Heins, Mike Lazaridis elected to RIM board during shareholders meeting originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers’ LTE network is old enough to mark its first birthday. Unless you happened to live in one of the seven largest cities in Canada during that time, however, you’ve largely been left out — that status indicator on the Rogers version of the One X may as well have been a subtle form of mockery. To the delight of our friends up North, the carrier has detailed a much more aggressive LTE rollout for the rest of the year: a total of 28 more cities will get that sweet 4G nectar in the next few months. Most of these expansions will blanket the southern half of Ontario, but major cities in the Prairies, Quebec and the Maritimes will all get their fair share. Arguably, the most important upgrade is coming to RIM’s home base of Waterloo; when the company is virtually betting its future on likely LTE-ready BlackBerry 10 devices, having widescale LTE to test against is a slightly important prerequisite. The full city list is available after the break.

Continue reading Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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